The Aftermath
by Bookworm Chica
Summary: Hermione's parents have been killed, everyone is at Grimmauld Place, and things are speeding towards the war. RHr, Oneshot, R


**The Aftermath**

**Chapter One Lightning **

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, the places, things, spells, ideas, Wizarding World, or anything else you recognize from the wonderful, worshipped Harry Potter series. It's all J.K. Rowling's, give her your love.

Summary: Starting only two weeks after the end of their Fifth year, this will hopefully go on through the summer, and possibly into Sixth year. Hermione's parents have been killed, everyone is at Grimmauld Place, and things are speeding towards an equally awaited and dreaded end. R/Hr. I'll have a better summary soon.Please comment, this is my first shot at a fanfic.

_When you feel all alone_

_And the world has turned it's back on you_

_Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart_

_I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you_

_It's hard to find relieve and people can be so cold_

_When darkness is upon your door _

_And you feel like you can't take anymore_

_Let me be the one you call_

_If you jump I'll break your fall_

_Lift you up and fly away with you into the night_

_If you need to fall apart_

_I can mend a broken heart_

_If you need to crash then crash and burn_

_You're not alone_

_Crash and Burn, Savage Garden_

It was quiet at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Or, at least, it was quiet to Hermione Granger, sitting up in the room she and Ginny shared, curled up at the top of her bed in her pajamas, a book in hand as usual. The only sounds that she could hear were the occasional rumble of thunder and the slight sound of raised voices when one of the twins would upset Mrs.Weasley or someone got a little too excited with a game of Exploding Snaps. Everyone seemed to be trying to make the best of things, trying to lighten everyone's moods. Everything that happened still seemed so surreal. At times Hermione even expected to go downstairs for dinner and find Sirius sitting at the kitchen table, talking to Fred and George about one of the pranks the Marauder's pulled on Snape in their days, but she never did. Each time she had to go down and remember that they'd lost him was another pang, another jolt to her heart that this war had already cost them all so much, and it had only just begun.

Once more her thoughts turned in a darker direction as she stared blankly down at the pages in front of her, a soft sigh escaping her lips before she closed the book, leaning over to set it on the table next to her twin-sized bed. Uncurling her legs from beneath her, she slipped from the bed and moved over towards the window, pulling the blanket with her as she did so and wrapping it around her shoulders to keep the chill away. Sweeping the curtain aside, she leaned against the windowsill and stared out at the night sky. Rain was pelting against the windows causing a little tip-tap sound, the sky occasionally lighting up from a flash of lightning.

Lightning. It had been storming everywhere these past few days, almost the entire two weeks since school let out for the summer. It had started during the car ride home from the station, and it hadn't let up since. Not that it bothered her, she wasn't sure she would have been able to stand feeling the way she did on a perfect, beautiful sunny day. She already had to handle seeing those horrible images every time she closed her eyes, as if they were burned there onto the backs of her eyelids.

Mother. Father. Two flashes of green light, and a cold, familiar voice hissing those two words that she had only heard in dreams or in a classroom for the past two years, but she knew someday she would hear them being said aloud for the one purpose they were meant for. The only purpose they could serve. Death. Destruction. She had no idea that she would hear them so soon, or so close, or have the results hit so close to home. At home. Her home.

Once more the lightning struck, and once more she saw it in green.

Behind her the door creaked open, but she didn't turn, she barely even heard the sound made by the door as a boy with flaming red hair entered the room, closing it softly behind him and just standing there. Blue eyes rested on that head of bushy brown hair that he had come to recognize so well, and for a moment he just watched her standing there, reluctant to interrupt her thoughts, whatever they may be. When he couldn't help but speak he spoke in barely a whisper, eyes still on the back of her head.

"Hermione?" She jumped slightly at the sound of a voice, not having been expecting it, and turned her head to look at Ron with the same blank look that had been plastered onto her face every time someone else was in the room. "Sorry, er...I didn't mean to scare you. But mum wanted me to come see if you wanted to come downstairs, get something to eat. She's offered to heat up some left overs from dinner since you didn't come down."

She shook her head a small bit, unable to even muster up a fake smile, no matter how small. "Thanks, but like I told Ginny earlier, I'm not hungry." That was a lie, of course. She was a little bit hungry, but she couldn't bear to eat. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it down. She had barely eaten anything substantial since the incident.

For once Ron didn't seem to be as thick as he normally was, because he didn't just nod and walk away like he would have before. Instead he just watched her for a moment longer before speaking, looking uncomfortable as he did so.

"Are you sure, because you haven't eaten at all, and mum says you need to. We all think you need to. And it'll be good for you to be around people, I think. Please Hermione?" She didn't answer for a moment, waiting before shaking her head, causing him to sigh. "Well if you won't eat then, at least..." He paused, struggling for the right words, unable to think of anything other than the most obvious question with the most obvious answer. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Ron. I mean...my side still hurts, and I'm a bit bruised from the stairs, and I'm still having to take those potions every--" She still had the wound from the Department of Mysteries, was still taking the potions for the curse from that, and now she had new bruises and such to deal with. She had been pushed down the stairs and a few of the Death Eaters took turns with the Cruciatus curse. She knew she would never forget that feeling, and the sound of her own screams in her ears.

"You know that's not what I meant." He cut her off and straightened up a small bit, staring her down for a moment before running a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he picked up, and moving across the room to lean against the wall next to the window, watching her. "I meant...do you need someone to talk to? Because if you do, I mean I know I don't seem like the best person to talk to and all, and I can be an idiot at times, but...I'm still here, Hermione."

She didn't respond, her chocolate brown eyes shifting out the window again and back to the night sky, so dark. So black. "A soul as dark as his name", that was how the Fat Lady had described Sirius during their third year, when they all thought that he was the Death Eater, the one who betrayed Harry's parents. Amazing she could still remember something so small, so seemingly insignificant. But when it mattered the most, she could remember nothing. And now she remembered it all.

He took her silence as a no, she wasn't okay, because the Hermione he knew never missed a chance to put in her opinion, especially when it involved him being remotely decent as he was now. But then again, how could he expect her to answer that question? After what happened to her, what she saw, what she went through--He forced himself not to think about it, not to think about what they did, because the thought of anyone hurting her like that was enough to make that infamous Weasley anger surface. Just looking at her, seeing the state they had left her in...it nearly broke his heart. They had taken the bright, smiling Hermione Granger and turned her into a broken shell of what she once was.

He prayed to every god ever imagined that she would be alright.

As the moments of silence grew longer he continued to watch her, waiting for some sign that she'd heard him, some sign that she would talk to him when she was ready. And for a while none came, until once more the thunder rolled and barely a second later the lightning followed, signaling that the storm was here. She cringed at the flash and turned away from the window, eyes tight shut.

"Every bit of light looks the same...every flash of lightning, every flicker of a candle." Her voice broke, then, but she kept speaking in the same hushed tone, a whisper so soft she herself could barely hear it. "They're all green, Ron. Every bit of light I see is green and I can't ...I can't make it go away."

She was on the verge of tears, her eyes already watery when she opened them again and her bottom lip quivering a bit. She took a deep, shaky breath and let it out again, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders as if just speaking about it made the room colder. He hated this, that she was hurting like this and there was nothing he could do to help her. For the first time since they'd met, she really needed help, and he didn't know how to give it, or if anything he did would be worth anything. But he had to try. So Ron did the only thing be could think of, moving away from the wall to wrap his arms around her small frame in a hug, his chin resting on the top of her head as she began to cry, really cry, for the first time since she saw her parents die.

A/N: And here it is, I give you Chapter One of my very first fanfic! Okay, so its a little short maybe, but they'll get longer as I go. I just wanted to go ahead and get something up, see if anyone had anything to say about it. Hopefully I'll update again in a couple days, I'm a fast typer, especially when I'm inspired. But ok, please leave me some reviews, encouragement is always nice, constructive criticism is always good too. So don't be shy, review!


End file.
